A delegation from Afriland First Bank Group, led by the Chairman, Dr. Paul Fokam, visited the Headquarters of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Cairo today for discussions aimed at strengthening collaboration between the two organisations.
Receiving the delegation, Afreximbank President Dr. Benedict Oramah said that the trade finance bank was looking to banks with strong presence in Africa to participate in the operationalization of its Intra-African Trade Platform.
Dr. Oramah said that the platform’s trade finance instruments, digital payments and clearing system would provide African corporates and small and medium-sized enterprises with the necessary tools to strengthened engagement in intra-regional trade.
He announced that Afreximbank’s major initiatives in 2017 Afreximbank would include the development of transport equipment leasing services to help overcome Africa’s infrastructure gap; intensification of trade finance support to agro-processing clusters and to the emerging African entertainment industry; and initiatives to boost African direct investment in export manufacturing.
Discussions also focused on collaboration in the deployment of Afreximbank’s financing and advisory services in support of factoring in Africa; in the implementation of the Afreximbank Industrial Parks Programme being undertaken as part of a $1 billion arrangement with China Exim Bank; and in training and educational initiatives, including knowledge-sharing, corporate events, youth engagement, and employee exchange.
Responding, Dr. Fokam said that Afriland First Bank Group, which has 14 operations across Africa, shared Afreximbank’s passion for building the continent’s trade finance capacity and was very interested in working with the Bank to transform Africa.
Afreximbank President Dr. Benedict Oramah receives a gift from Dr. Paul Fokam, Chairman Afriland First Bank Group, after the meeting in Cairo.